Hochul, Dems agree on another budget extender as bail, housing talks ongoing

ALBANY — Gov. Hochul and her fellow Democrats are buying themselves some more time to talk about bail and housing as budget negotiations pick up again this week.

The Legislature is slated to approve another temporary extender on Monday, keeping the government running and state workers paid while the governor and leaders seek to shore up details of New York’s already-late spending plan.

After blowing past the April 1 start of the state’s new fiscal year, lawmakers passed an initial one-week stopgap measure last Monday. The Passover and Easter holidays slowed talks and made an additional extension necessary, Hochul said over the weekend.

“So it’s going to take a little while but I feel confident that we’re making progress and that is a good thing,” the governor said on Saturday.

The one-week extender will be “clean,” meaning it will not include any additional spending or policy items, and will push the deadline to next Monday, April 17.

Hochul and lawmakers have spent the bulk of negotiations hashing out the governor’s plan to once again overhaul New York’s bail laws. The governor’s proposal would remove the “least restrictive” standard judges are meant to follow when setting bail for serious crimes to ensure a defendant returns to court.

“I’m going to make sure we have bail laws that give judges the discretion that I believe they should have,” the governor said following an Easter event at the Executive Mansion in Albany. “I want to let judges know their responsibilities and make sure that they’re accountable.”

Insiders with knowledge of discussions say Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins (D-Westchester) and Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie (D-Bronx) are reviewing a deal focusing on violent crimes and repeat offenders.

Progressives, criminal justice groups, public defenders and a wide array of unions and legal services have spoken out against the governor’s plan, arguing it will lead to more poor New Yorkers being jailed pretrial.

The second extender comes as the governor and the Dem-led Legislature remain at loggerheads over not just bail, but also her ambitious mandate-based housing plan and a measure included in her $227 billion executive budget proposal that would allow more charter schools to open up in the five boroughs, something progressive Dems have staunchly opposed.

Last year’s budget was approved nine days after the April 1 deadline, in large part due to Hochul’s insistence that changes to the bail law granting judges more discretion be included in the policy-packed fiscal package.

Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli warned late last week that another extender needed to be approved by noon on Monday in order to meet payroll for 83,000 state workers.

Over the weekend, Hochul said that while the stopgap measure is necessary, she’s confident the three sides can get on the same page when it comes to bail, housing and other issues.

“There’s a lot more on the budget table, but I will get it done. We will get it done together,” the governor said. “And I’m more concerned about getting the right results instead of the time limits.”